DOJ releases gun-operation records

The Justice Department released documents Thursday on the Bush-era Wide Receiver gun-walking operation that suggest the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was aware that guns were likely flowing into Mexico but allowed it to continue in the hopes of penetrating deeply into U.S.-Mexico gun trafficking networks.

DOJ’s documents were delivered in response to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa’s subpoena on Operation Fast and Furious and were also made available to the press.

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Guns linked to Fast and Furious were found at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in 2010. His killing first brought the tactic of gun-walking to broad attention, and subsequent investigations showed that investigators lost track of thousands of firearms purchased in the U.S., many of which crossed the border into Mexico.

Attorney General Eric Holder has come under fierce attack for Fast and Furious, and dozens of Republican members of Congress have called for his resignation. Holder is expected to testify before Issa’s committee on Feb. 2

An August 2006 briefing memo on Wide Receiver, which was conducted from 2006 to 2007, shows that “there is currently sufficient documentation to conclude” a criminal case from the investigation.

In addition, the memo suggests that it was “highly unlikely,” due to the limited recovery of firearms, that weapons had not already entered gun trafficking conduits to Mexico.

Regardless, ATF decided to forge ahead with the investigation. Additional documents indicate that they did so in an attempt to infiltrate deeper into criminal gun trafficking organizations operating along the U.S.-Mexico border.

By the end of 2006, the targets of the investigation had purchased 181 firearms. Hundreds of firearms were sold to the targets of the investigation before it ended in 2007.

No charges were filed against the targets of the investigation until 2009, during the Obama administration. Six individuals have since been convicted of offenses related to the Wide Receiver operation.

Issa’s office slammed the new documents as evidence that senior Justice officials must have known about the tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious.

“It is deeply discouraging that top Justice officials knew such details about problems in Operation Wide Receiver yet were still so quick to dismiss warnings from whistleblowers about reckless and dangerous tactics happening on a much larger scale in Operation Fast and Furious,” said Becca Watkins, a spokewoman for Issa’s office.